Hi, I’m Aaron Ferguson — the 2005 $1 Million Body-for-LIFE Champion.

With the finish line in sight, it’s such an important time to stay disciplined. (Or in some cases start to implement it)—not from the perspective of falling off the wagon, but from the angle of not overdoing it in your last few weeks.

One of the Pitfalls of the "homestretch" is that we start to look and feel great, or perhaps we're a little disappointed in where we're at, so we make the decision to accelerate the process to either see how far we can take it or to make up for lost time. If these thoughts start to creep into your cerebrum, then let me warn you now: TROUBLE'S A-BREWING!

The last thing you want to do is put yourself in a position where an injury could occur by deviating from the path or "experimenting a little" to speed things up a bit. It ain't going to happen.

Remember, this program is about creating a sustainable healthy lifestyle. So this is a great point to take stock of the efforts you've made up until now, looking at both of these factors: what you've already done really well, plus any areas in which you can improve. Then incorporate your findings into the final few weeks.

Here are some areas I tried to work on as my countdown began:

• My spacing between meals become a little askew, so I prepared more meals on a Sunday night, making sure I was ready for any unforeseen events in the coming week.
• I started to sacrifice my form in an attempt to lift heavier weights—so I made sure I would lift the maximum weight I could as long as my form was spot on (If it started to wane, I would drop the weight)
• My time in between sets started to increase well beyond the minute stipulated. (I needed a drink or I had to get more weights or someone is on MY machine, blah, blah, blah—so I made sure I was prepared for all my sets before I started my exercise including a backup plan.

Remember this is all a learning experience and you’re still trying to work out what the best system of growth is for you. So keep learning from your experiences and love the fact that you’re actually working towards maximizing your potential as a human being.

Best of Health,

Aaron Ferguson